The present invention generally relates to systems and methods for user identification and/or authentication of a user using gaze information from the user, and in particular, to systems and methods for allowing a user to login to a device using such gaze information.
Security is of utmost importance in modern computing. With the increased mobility and power of computing devices, more and more devices are used by multiple users. Therefore accurately identifying and enabling multiple users to login to a device is of utmost importance.
Traditional identification and authentication systems rely on simple mechanisms such as password or passphrase authentication. This is troublesome as the system relies on a user's ability to remember the exact syntax of both a username and/or password. And often users must need to remember a multitude of potentially different usernames and password for different systems. Further such information can potentially be learned, extracted, copied or otherwise obtained from a user in order to be used to falsely login as the user.
It has been previously proposed to use other forms of identification and authentication to allow a user to login to a computing device. For example, many computing devices now comprise fingerprint sensors for scanning a user's fingerprint to facilitate logging in of the device. The problem with such systems is that the user must hold their finger still on a sensing surface for some period of time, and therefore impatience as well as additional issues such as dirt and other obstructions on the sensing surface or finger can impede the systems from functioning correctly.
Further, retina scanning technology has been proposed as an alternative authentication technique. In these systems a user's retina is scanned by a camera or the like and matched to a saved retinal profile, thus allowing the correct user to login to the computing device. This system also requires that the user remain still during scanning and thus there exists the potential for the system to fail.
Retina scanning and other facial scanning systems may also be fooled by methods such as scanning a photograph of a person or their eye. Accordingly, there is a need for an improved system to authenticate users as a live persons and allowing for login of a device.
Further there is a need for a contact-less login procedure that is individual to a user and allows the user to authenticate with a computing device, even when being observed by a third party.